(LINDSAY) It was a dramatic day in court in Lindsay Wednesday (Dec. 12) as the mother of Jesse Low stood up and yelled, ‘ludicrous!,’ as the judge read out a sentence of eight years for her 19-year-old son’s former friend who killed him in 2011.
Darlene Castle stormed out of the courtroom and could be heard cursing and yelling as she proceeded down the police-lined hallway of the courthouse.
Raymond Reid, 24, of Ennismore, will spend another six years and eight months in jail after being given one-for-one credit for time already served. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter this summer.
Court security and police officers were on hand in abundance for the tense sentencing, with those entering the courtroom being searched and the pews inside divided by more officers, with Mr. Low’s family and supporters filling one side of the room, opposite those in support of Mr. Reid.
Justice Michelle Fuerst read out the facts of the case, stating that Mr. Low and Mr. Reid got into a drunken fist fight at a friend’s house on Sept. 2, 2011, that took the men from inside the house to the lawn outside, despite another friend’s efforts to try to break the fight up.
At some point, Mr. Reid grabbed a kitchen knife with a blade of about 12 centimetres, that had been sticking out of a post outside, and stabbed Mr. Low in the stomach, piercing his liver and causing internal bleeding.
Mr. Reid did not call an ambulance for his friend or tell anyone he had stabbed him until later. Court heard that Mr. Low told his girlfriend, Mr. Reid’s sister, that he had fallen on something sharp, but by the time an ambulance was called sometime later and paramedics arrived, he had no vital signs.
Mr. Reid, meanwhile, changed his clothes and hid his bloodied shorts behind a side table. He also told a friend he had stabbed Mr. Low and called his grandmother twice, both advised him to call police.
It wasn’t until he got the news that Mr. Low had died an hour-and-a-half later that Mr. Reid called 911, court heard, asking them to send a police officer to come pick him up, although he was not immediately forthcoming about what had happened.
“I didn’t assault him, he assaulted me,” he told the 911 operator, and was later “evasive, coy and unco-operative” with police.
Justice Fuerst also touched on the 10 victim impact statements read in court Nov. 5, reflecting they painted a picture of a “happy and compassionate man,” who was close with his family, who are now left heartbroken by the tragedy.
She then went on to relay the troubled upbringing of Mr. Reid, who was born to teenaged parents with substance abuse problems. After a stint in a group home when he was 12-years-old, Mr. Reid progressively got more involved in alcohol and abusing drugs like crack cocaine and left school by the age of 16.
Court heard that he became a father in 2007 and by 2009 was in a rehab centre, but was removed after a few weeks due to a fight with staff.
In October of 2010, Mr. Reid was convicted of assault causing bodily harm and received a suspended sentence and two years of probation, which he was still under at the time of Mr. Low’s death.
The judge asserted that while Mr. Reid now has a good relationship with his parents, wants to continue his education in jail and now acknowledges he has a substance abuse problem, he still “lacks insight into the cause of his rage.”
Crown attorney Ron Davidson was asking for 8-10 years, while defence lawyer Bob Richardson was asking for 6-8 years.
The judge described Mr. Low’s death as a tragedy, adding he had “his entire adult life ahead of him.”
In terms of aggravating factors in her sentencing considerations, justice Fuerst noted that it was Mr. Reid who introduced a knife into what was a fair fist fight against a young, vulnerable and unsuspecting friend, he didn’t attempt to get his friend medical help, was still on probation from a recent violent criminal conviction and had tried to minimize the impact of the death on himself.
In terms of mitigating factors, the judge considered that Mr. Reid did not bring the knife to the fight, had no history of animosity against Mr. Low, stabbed him once, had a dysfunctional childhood and pleaded guilty, showing remorse and a willingness to accept responsibility for his actions. She added that she did not consider his excessive intoxication as a mitigating factor because he had chosen not to get help for his alcohol abuse after his 2010 conviction.
In addition to his sentence of eight years, justice Fuerst also included a DNA order and a lifetime ban on weapons in her sentence.
As Mr. Reid was led away in shackles, he looked over his shoulder at his supporters, waving, giving them a thumbs-up and blowing a kiss.